Nice long weekend, ideal to get the e type painted, and daughter had asked if I'd change the oil in their Vectra, no problem I thought, set it draining between coats, and refill again between coats......

Come to remove sump plug, 13mm head, but a large sealing flange, better use a 6 sided socket to prevent rounding, I think it must be made of something akin to lead because it rounded.... I've had a stilson wrench on it, the air chisel on the edge, hand chisel, it will not budge, last service was at the dealers, some monkey must have swung on the wrench to tighten it.

Anyone got any ideas on removing it? It needs a new one now, so it doesn't matter how much damage I do to it, but don't want to damage the sump.

Cheers.

Pete.

[Edited on 7/4/12 by r1_pete]

weld a bit of bar to it, the heat will also help crack the seal (and hopefully not the sump)

The Choices Are
(1) An Irvin Bolt Grip socket --- always my first choice i I even suspect a bolt or nut is going to be difficult
(2) Suck the oil out through the dipstick tube using a vacuum extractor or oil syringe I normally I do all my oil changes with vacumm extractor link to type I use
(3) Weld a nut or bar on to the sump plug.
(4) Get a fast fit outfit to change the oil via the dipstick tube.

you could grid on the side of the bolt so you can fit a good 12mm socket on it

Grind or file two flat edges and use mole grips.

Weld a M10 nut on and use a 6 point socket. I had to do two on a calliper last week, they both came out after. The Vauxhalls I've seen lately have sump plugs with Allen heads and rubber O rings, has someone swapped it ?

[Edited on 7/4/12 by Peteff]

Hello,

leave the car like that , tell job is done , and keep oil for your car



Gerardo

Thanks for all the suggestions, I think I'm going to invest in one of those pumps, it will also save all the messing taking the belly pan off too.

Personally I'd do the oil change through the dipstick tube with one of the oil syringes. Chances are even if you get the bolt out, the damage is already done and you'll have a dripping sump for the rest of the cars life.

Why does anyone have their cars serviced at a garage? If I mess up, then I put it right. If a garage mess up, they just make it look pretty and ship it back to the customer!

(Sorry, probably an overly negative view on garages, apologies if I've offended any professional mechanics)

quote:

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Originally posted by belgian2b
Hello,

leave the car like that , tell job is done , and keep oil for your car



Gerardo

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quote:

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Originally posted by Peteff
Weld a M10 nut on and use a 6 point socket. I had to do two on a calliper last week, they both came out after. The Vauxhalls I've seen lately have sump plugs with Allen heads and rubber O rings, has someone swapped it ?

what Pete said is the way to do it

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SteveWalker - 7/4/12 at 08:07 PM

When my Dad put his car in for an oil change two days before going on holiday, they removed the sump plug and stripped the threads in the sump. They blamed it on whoever had changed the oil last time cross-threading the plug - so he pointed out that they had done the last oil change They ended up replacing the threaded piece in the sump.

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geoff shep - 7/4/12 at 08:32 PM

I've got a Vectra and had the same snag - so have many others. Tried all the sockets, mole grips, stilsons etc and took it to the local garage. He looked at me as if I didn't know what I was doing and hammered on a tight-fit socket only to find that I wasn't imagining it and the plug was in fact made of putty. However, he managed it quite easily with a cold chisel applied to the edge of the flange. The new plug (and new sealing washer) from the Vx dealer does at least appear to me made of stronger stuff.

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rusty nuts - 8/4/12 at 08:27 AM

Get the mig welder out, it works every time . Also works on bleed nipples,brake pipe nuts, sheared/siezed studs/bolts etc. If the metal is that soft and only raised slightly from the sump then the Irvine extractors will struggle although they are very good

Edited to say make sure you use a surge protector if you do use a mig welder or at least disconnect the battery IF you have the radio code

[Edited on 8/4/12 by rusty nuts]

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